Exiles #4: Empire Earth Part One

The Swooping Talon, Bridge.
Several things happened at once; first a bruised and bloody Spider Man and Longshot appeared out of nowhere on the bridge of the Shi’ar destroyer. Shi’ar soldiers immediately opened fire, thinking they were invaders, but thanks to Blink’s quick reflexes they were teleported out of harm’s way.

Longshot collapsed as blood poured from a wound in his chest. Zarda was torn between running to his side and brutalising the soldiers she thought must have hit the man she had grown quite fond of over the past few months. In the end she ran to his side, ripping open his leather jacket to examine the wound. It looked as if Miguel had tried to web the wound closed, but to little success. She applied pressure to the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding while yelling at him to stay conscious. Out of all the Exiles, Longshot never seemed to judge her, and was always warm and kind to her despite her harsh demeanour. She didn’t want to lose that friendship.

“We need a medic in here!” she yelled, but no one was paying attention.

An alarm started blaring, and glancing over her shoulder, she saw what all the commotion was about. A massive ring, as big as a moon, had materialised not far from Chandilar and hundreds of ships were spewing forth from a radiant white warp within it.

The Terran armada had arrived.

The Eternal Hammer, Bridge.
Admiral Ikaris couldn’t help but smile as his armada of deadly Terran ships entered the Chandilar system. The power of the Warpring let them go anywhere in the universe in a single jaunt, it was their greatest weapon.

For months they had been weakening the Shi’ar’s defence; assassinating key military leaders, eliminating strategic facilities and luring the fleet away from the capital. Now it was time to put the jewel in the crown and crush the heart of the Shi’ar Empire.

As Shi’ar ships swarmed into defensive positions he gave the order the others on deck had been waiting for, “Let’s draw the first blood. Launch the Inhuman,”

He smiled again as the small missile was launched towards Chandilar, its powerful shields deflecting any laser fire the Shi’ar could muster.

Chandilar
Those on the surface of Chandilar were oblivious to what was going on in the skies above them, until a flaming missile came plummeting down upon the planet’s capital. Civilians ran in panic as the weapon of doom smashed into the middle of the street outside the Temple of K’ythri, but panic turned to confusion when the weapon failed to explode.

A few brave folks even approached the weapon, which protruded from the ground like a tree of death. They were startled when the sides blew off the missile, revealing a naked human covered with wires and strapped to a machine. Dozens of wires ran from the man’s throat particularly.

Above the man was a plaque that read “Blackagar Boltagon”, which meant nothing to the Shi’ar.

His eyes were wide with fear and while he remained silent he mouthed the words “I’m sorry,”

Power surged through the wires and, against his will, he screamed.

Chandilar’s capital was reduced to ashes.

To be continued…

Next Issue: Two mighty empires clash in a battle that could decide the fate of the universe. Can the Exiles hold back such an unstoppable force? It’s Shi’ar vs. Terrans, Imperial Guard vs. the Terran Vanguard, Gladiator vs. the Sentry, Power Princess vs. Ikaris, Spider Man vs. Reed Richards. Prepare for action.